Deftones

can't see why they wouldn't. they have a knack for introducing stuff like that early then revisiting it later in the season.

wm lopez

This episode was the 1st episode that just had me sitting there like if I was watching 2 bad teams on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. So far this season is not like the others.
It may have JUMPED THE SHARK when the cop was fooled and lost his lawsuit.

Gunde

I think you need to blame Chiklis.
She was probably 8 when they started filming the first season so I'm sure it was his idea

spainlinx0

Have to agree. This season has something missing.

Doc MacGyver

He said in one of the commentaries that she approached him and said she wants to become an actor and that she begged him to be on the show. It's actually pretty amusing, because he's complimenting her, but you can tell his heart's not in it. The rest of the guys on the track (Lem, Cletus, Ronnie) don't really agree with the praise either, it just sort of hangs there like a fart in church


-Doc

Goldblum

So far, the worst season of the bunch. But this is The Shield, so that's still pretty damn good. However, this show has had a habit of rising above crappy season openers. Season 5 strikes me as a prime example.

Goldblum

I forgot to mention...

The Cassidy thing needs to be put to rest immediately and some real drama needs to be interjected in its place. Usually The Shield has so many things going on at once that, while it can be hard to follow at times, it keeps your attention so you don't miss anything. This season so far has been very linear and easy to follow. The Laurie Holden character apparently being bad is the only real surprise so far.

That said, I'm confident the writers will step it up a notch. If I'm wrong, then the series should have ended with Season 6 (with the latter half of that season having been rewritten to tie up all the loose ends).

Thos19

I thought this paragraph from an article about the Shield in EW was reassuring:

As for the show's final episode, Ryan began to conceptualize it right around the time another antihero was ending his run over on HBO in June 2007. Ryan's quick to assure fans, however, that The Sopranos' controversial smash-to-black finale had no influence on how he dealt with Vic or the rest of his dirty Strike Teamers. ''I didn't like it. I thought it was insulting to fans,'' says Ryan of the mobster's exit. ''I don't mind that David Chase didn't kill or arrest Tony. It's his prerogative. It just seemed he knew that people were looking for some kind of satisfaction and either he didn't know how to give it to them or he didn't want to give it to them. To me, a great novel has an ending. The ending can be controversial and not what you can expect. But it should be respectful of what preceded it.''

Sums my feelings up on the Soprano's finale pretty accurately.

Thos.

PacMan2006

I agree with the fact that something about this season just feels off. I don't quite know what the problem is, but something's not right.

tbird2340

Put me in this boat as well.. Especially since I just watched Seasons 1-6 back to back this past month.. I was all fired up to flow right in to another season of awesomness.. That has not been the case, yet..

Cassidy store line = TEH SUCK.. Beating a dead horse here when I say she is TERRIBLE at acting yet they are giving her the most screen time she's had in the entire series!?

I'm glad they went away from the Billings "goof" angle and went back to old school Dutch / Billings.. They had it goin on in this episode..

I'm also trying to think of how Vic screwed himself with the Fed agent.. I don't remember him saying anything to her about the box, I surely may be mistaken..

If he has told her then I would think she would try to get closer to him (Vic), not go and tell Penzuella. If she gets close to Vic (you know she's going to sleep with him) then she possibly gets the location of said box from Vic and then possibly gets her incriminating info back and thus out of Penzuella's hold..

DthRdrX

I figured that FED was there for a different reason when she showed up.

I have to watch the last two episodes over. I don't remember Vic mentioning anything about Aceveda to her, yet Vic told Aceveda they are both targets now. Was Vic spinning Aceveda again?

Aegean2007

wm lopez

Best excuse I can think of is the writers strike.
Remember some of these episodes were filmed a long time ago and then the show was shut down cause of the strike.

Matthew Ackerly

The last day of shooting the series was the first day of the strike.

The show was never shutdown.

wm lopez

So why didn't the show start in March?

Patman

I'm in favor of corporal punishiment when it comes to the character of Cassidy.

It was funny in how it motivated Dani into getting Vic to sign the paperwork to give up all paternal rights to their child, though.

Looks like "Beaver" is really growing up to be a true sociopath, let's hope Billings & Dutch get a second crack at him before the show comes to an end.

dvd182

I don't think the concept that is behind the Cassidy storyline is that bad, it's just the acting with all parties involved minus Michael Chiklis is atrocious. The Sopranos did a particularly good job handling child response to very public questionable activities by a father.

EdTheRipper

Same for me. I've spent the past few weeks re-watching the previous seasons and it's had me amped for this run. So far, there really hasn't been anything to really get me into it. Hopefully it'll pick up steam in the coming weeks.

DJariya

You have to keep in mind that principal photography ended last Fall. However, due to the WGA strike Shawn Ryan had to stay away from working on this show and from the editing room. As Producer/Showrunner Ryan oversees final editing all the episodes and since he didn't get a chance to do that last Fall, I'm assuming that is one the main reasons for the long postponement. It would have been impossible to turn around and re-edit all 13 episodes for a Spring start. I believe he wasn't even on set for the last few episodes shot including the series finale. The show is his baby and he's not going to let any of them hit air without his stamp of approval.

Sticky Bomb

dont you think vic is running a little much of the whole war between the armenians and the mexicans thing. I dont think he could orchestrate this dynamic as well as he has. how could either party be this gulible to believe him and kill people because of it.
People are going to jail(the two mexican kids for the fire and the armenian mob bosses for the guns). Somewhere vics name would have to be linked in there trials.
It all seems to be working out a little to perfectly.
I agree the dutch/billings stories are the best part of this seasons storylines. Billings seems to be a very good detective when he wants to be.